Russia’s Manga Pirates Face Publisher’s Lawsuit & Increasing State Censorship

After failing to take action following complaints from a new manga platform established in Russia by South Korea, manga piracy site ReManga will reportedly face legal action.

With around 18 million visits each month, ReManga is certainly popular, but copyright lawsuits aren't the only threat. Rising state censorship means that illegal and legal platforms alike face potential ISP blocking. previously, with the most recent entry dating back to 2021 attributed to telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor.

While that was probably due to an infringement of intellectual property rights, two other entries in the same year are attributed to Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing.

The exact reasons for these entries are unclear, but there’s no doubt that recent legal amendments present obvious risks for both pirate sites and their legal counterparts, My Comics included.

Manga Content Meets Legal Restrictions

In December 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a new law which among other things bans “LGBT propaganda.” Manga site Yaoilib.me was one of the early casualties and its permanent blocking is detailed on RuBlacklist, a portal maintained by digital rights group Roskomsvoboda.

The site was blocked by Rosmolodezh, Russia’s Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, for spreading “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.” It wouldn’t be the last manga site to suffer that fate. In March, Mangapoisk.ru was permanently blocked and two months later, Mangapoisk.com was added to the list. On September 21, Mangapoisk.org appeared six times on the ‘prohibited information’ list and is now blocked.
Other manga sites blocked in Russia this month include MangaHub (3.6m visits per month) and MintManga (11m), but falling foul of Russian legislation isn’t a pirate site exclusive.
Russian anime encyclopedia ‘Shikimori’ was blocked on September 21.

Platforms like these enable anime fans to learn more about the genre which in turn informs upcoming purchases. If these kinds of resources can be disappeared overnight, market growth may face sudden challenges in Russia.

After receiving a fine for listing films containing ‘LGBT people’ without displaying adult age restrictions, even Yandex can face punishment.

My Comics and KOCCA seem prepared to overlook this threat, even though it’s directly related to discrimination against minorities.

Russia’s actions in Ukraine and elsewhere also seem to be of limited concern, so for now at least, selling comics takes priority.